Owners could be slapped with fine

UNDER Tasmania's tougher dilapidated building regulations a fine of up to $50,000 can now be slapped on a body corporate if council- prescribed work had not been undertaken to fix a property.

Failure to comply with a building order is an offence under section 170 of the Building Act 2000 and prosecution can result in fines.

For individual property owners the fine could be up to $13,000.

New regulations have only come into effect since December, after councils had lobbied to get the stronger powers to allow them to deal with owners refusing to repair dilapidated properties that were left to decay for years.

In Devonport this week there are renewed calls to knock down the city's most notorious derelict building for many years, the vandalised old maternity hospital in Steele Street.

The Melbourne-based owners have been asked to mend holes in the fence and re-secure the site, to keep out trespassing children believed to have started a fire at the property on Friday night.

A lack of action to redevelop the old hospital had some people in Devonport calling for the building to be flattened.

Braddon Labor MHA Brenton Best said someone had to bite the bullet to turn the site back to a greenfields site for residential.

However Devonport Mayor Steve Martin said the council was keen to support the owner - Portside Apartments - to resecure the site and proceed with their plans for development.

There was almost 12 months still valid on a development application the council approved for luxury apartments.

Meantime Portside Apartments has put the property back up for expressions of interest and would be interested in a sale or a joint venture proposal.

Devonport City Council's new general manager Paul West has inherited the long-running problem of what the council can do to resolve the old maternity hospital as an eyesore issue.

Mr West said the new dilapidated building regulations would provide a whole process that councils will have to follow to implement an action against a property owner and the owner could appeal.

"A GM will have to identify a dilapidated building do a report and notify the owner of what the issues are, place requirements for the issues to be addressed and a certain amount of time for action to be taken," Mr West said.